New Couch Crisis

It is 5:15 and I should be getting dinner ready for my starving children but I need some help with a bit of a crisis I am having. Okay, lets be honest, in the grand scheme of things this is not a crisis at all- it is actually quite selfish and trivial, but right now in my mind it is a crisis. So we have been wanting new couches for some time but after having a child barf on our 20+year old couches (not to mention losing all the buttons and feeling our bottoms touch the ground because all the springs were worn out) we decided to get new couches. And we knew we wanted leather, but had to get something basic and didn't have a ton of money to invest in something super fancy. So, we decided on this set we found online. Despite my initial reservations that it was not the $10,000 looking Italian coffee colored leather that I wanted, I thought it was nice and would be a nice upgrade. And it was in our price range. So we got it. Fast forward to today- our couches got here, Tim and I unloaded them and while I was in the kitchen making lunch, Tim unpackaged them. He was oohing and ahhing, so I turned the corner to take a look and I was not thrilled with them. And I was totally bummed that I didn't immediately love them! It really stinks to invest $2500 in something and not love it immediately. So Tim set them up in the room(s) and I have been waiting all day for them to grow on me. It is not that I don't like them, I just don't love them and I feel like I should love them. And I can't pinpoint what it is that I don't love- I think it is the color. It is just a very standard brown- I expecting something a little darker or richer looking. Maybe even a little shinier? Or maybe I am just not used to leather- I have never owned leather furniture before.

So, I took some photos to see what you all think. Am I crazy? Is it just my brown walls with brown couches that makes it all look blah? I do have 30 days to return them, but the problem with sending them back is that we would lose a good couple hundred dollars to ship them back PLUS we would then have to get something else that would likely be more expensive and I may very likely decide that I don't like them either when I get them. Argh...

So here they are in my living room- non photoshopped because I didn't want to make them look any richer than they really are. I actually think they look good in the pictures:P


And one of the things that bugs me most is that we got the chair and ottoman to put in our bedroom until we have a bigger house to put the whole set together. But because the color is a lighter brown than I was thinking, it looks kind of silly in our bedroom with our coffee colored furniture everywhere else. Do you think it looks weird? Am I being way too picky? Hey, at least it matches my wreath:P
And I think that this is what I really want our couches to look like. Only this set is about $5000 more than the set we got. Maybe that is my whole problem...



So what do you think- should I stop being so picky? Should I give them some time to grow on me? Should I suck it up and be grateful that we don't have to look at those putrid green couches anymore (okay, they weren't that bad- sorry, mom, I hope that didn't offend you. They were beautiful when you got them in 1988.) Or should I send them back because leather is an investment and you need to love your furniture?

I would love to hear your input before my 30 days is up. PLEASE HELP ME!!

Victory: My 10K Update...

I know you are all just dying to know how my 10K went last Saturday- okay maybe not. Perhaps you didn't even know I ran a 10K last Saturday. Well, I did. And it was a triumphant success! My finishing time was 49:32, which is a 7.98min/mile pace- and that, for me, is very, very good! Have I mentioned on here before that I am not a fast runner? Really, just because I am tall and my legs are long does not mean I am fast. Or that I play basketball, but that is another story. Well, for some reason I decided to really push myself with this race- I trained really hard with my friend and we were both hoping to run it in under 53 minutes, so I met and exceeded my goal(as did Amanda- she did awesome as well, though that didn't surprise me!) And after my last two races (which in my mind were complete and utter failures due to bad training and injuries) that felt SO GOOD! To be honest I am not sure that has ever happened to me before- actually meeting and exceeding a goal! It almost made me want to make goals in other areas of my life. Hmmm... I'll have to think about that some more, especially given my tendency to burn myself out. I wish that I'd had Tim bring the camera and take photos of the race, just for memory's sake, but my D70 is busted and I didn't want to bring the D300 since there was a chance of rain. And there are 30,000 runners there (plus all the spectators) to steal my source of livelihood. Can you believe that- the number of people I mean? Apparently the Monument Ave. 10K is the 4th largest 10K race in the nation- last year they had 31,000 runners. The coarse just goes up and back a historic street in Richmond, VA but it is totally flat, which worked to my advantage since I trained on hills- lots and lots of hills. So here is the play by play as I ran the 6.2 miles:

Starting line- "Wow, look at all these people! There has got to be at least 2,000 people between me and Amanda- I will never catch up to her! And look at all these iPods- I am sure glad I brought mine! This will be fun!" Our wave moves closer to the starting line. "Crap, I need to stretch!" I attempt to stretch in the crowd of people but almost fall over and decide that my falling over while trying to stretch in a confined space might cause a domino effect of 25,000 people crashing down, so I better stop. We move forward again. "Almost time to go! I'm nervous! All this music is really loud- maybe I won't use my iPod after all."

Start- "Yeah, Baby! Let's do this!" I start my stopwatch and start running, but am quickly distracted by my ear buds hanging out of my shirt flopping all over the place, repeatedly whacking me in the face. So I stick them in my ears, even though I am not listening to music. "Dang iPod- I probably just lost about three seconds!" Then I look over enviously at the woman with the hot pink Fanny Pack circa 1985 and wish I had something to put my ipod in. The crowd is slowing me down so I do some zigging and zagging to get ahead of the crowd.

Mile 1- time: 8:07. "Good time, Mandy! Lets shoot for 16:15 for mile 2!" I pass a local middle school cheerleader group. I give them a courtesy smile- but wonder how on earth they got wrangled into cheering at a race. I see Tim and my boys- awwwwww! More zigging and zagging to get around people.

Mile 2- time: 16:15. "Woohoo! Keep it up, Mand!" See, I don't need cheerleaders- I am my own cheerleader. More zigging and zagging as well as being zigged and zagged by other fast runners or not-very-smart-runners-that-I-will-probably-see-walking-by-mile-3. A reminder: "Pace yourself, Mand!"

Mile 3- time: 24:05. "yEEESSSS! Ooooh look- a water stop!" I grab some water and try to drink while running but it didn't work too well- I probably only got an ounce before it spilled all down the front of me. So I keep going, trying not to trip on all the discarded cups on the ground. I pass a Christian band singing about praising the Lord. I feel very inspired. Halfway there! Hey, there is Amanda, making the big half-way turn. She sure looks fast- and very far ahead of me! Zig-zag, zig-zag!

Mile 4- time: 32:15. "Dang, I am tired! I need some lively music to pump me up!" Well, what do you know? The next corner I pass a local band playing Billy Idol's "White Wedding." Once again, I feel inspired. Nothing like back to back gospel and Billy Idol to keep you going! I take an ounce of Powerade at the next pit stop- but I accidentally throw my still-full cup all over one of the volunteers. Ooops! Reminder to self: running+drinking+me=bad idea.

Mile 5- time: 40:10. "I am getting tired! My feet hurt- these dang brick streets that I thought were so pretty at mile 1 are now killing my feet!" I feel myself slowing down, and notice that now I am the one being zig-zagged! Crap! But suddenly something strange happens- I start to get the goose bumps- I start feeling strangely proud of myself and how hard I was running. Then I feel myself choking up- "What the heck has come over me?", I thought. It was like a real Chariots of Fire moment! Then I notice a group of beautiful Asian-American dancers to my left, dancing to some dramatic orchestra music from some movie soundtrack, like Anna and the King or Legends of the Fall. It was that dang music! Making me into a sappy fool! So I fought back the ridiculous tears, scolded myself for being such a moron and continued on my race, picking up my pace. Ziggity-zig, zaggity-zag!

Mile 6- time: 47:55. I laugh at the Chariots of Fire moment from mile 5. Then I see Tim and my boys again and get some high fives. Yea! What a boost! Then the REAL chariots of fire music starts playing in my head as I see the finish line- (que Chariots of Fire music that you probably already turned off.) "Dang! That finish line looks so far away! That can't be .2 miles!" I glance at the ground- then back at the finish line- then back at the ground- then... "Stop looking at it, you dummy, and run!! RUN, FOREST! RUUUUUN!" Check time- dang, I am not going to make it! I better pick up my pace! Z-to-the-ziggy, Z-to-the-zaggy!

6.2 miles- A tall girl with a silent iPod crosses the finish line, pumping her arms enthusiastically into the air, breaking the ribbon with her chest as tears roll down her cheeks and she shouts to the heavens in a cry filled with agony and joy. (Que- Chariots of Fire music slowly fades). No, I am kidding. That would've been great though, wouldn't it? I think you have to run the race in like a 5min pace to have the honor of breaking the ribbon. But maybe next year...

Really though, this was a great race! I had so much fun and am now hoping that Tim will not want to run it next year so I can run it again. And whether I win or not, I will pump my arms into the air and cry. But only if the dramatic orchestra music is back. And next time I will not even bring my iPod because I heard that next year White Wedding will be sung by the real Billy Idol. Imagine that!...

Mr. E: Overloaded

So here are the photos I promised of Ethan yesterday(hahaha!). I have to apologize for including so many- I just didn't have the time or patience to decide which ones to post and I figured since I went through the trouble of editing them all, I might as well show them! And how could I resisit- we all know that Ethan is the cutest little peanut in the world:) Ethan is just starting to give us a taste of the terrible two's but really it is pretty mild (so far). Ethan is very easy to love- he is our little sweetheart. Here are some of the things I love about him:

1- I love the way he is attached to his blakies- Jace was never attached to objects so this is kind of new to me. It makes me smile every morning as he runs out of his bedroom dragging his "pooh bear blankie" and "boat blakie" with him.

2- I love Ethans sweet voice- anyone who has heard him will agree! I especially love the way he says sorry- he says sorry for everything, even when he bumps his own head he says "sowwy mommy!"

3- I love watching his immagination at work- it is amazing how immaginitive this boy is! No doubt he learns from his big brother! I love watching him crawl accross the floor on his hands and feet and say "Look, I Spidewman! I cwimb on a ceiwing!" And I love watching him run accross the room in his assortment of capes and look over his shoulder to see his cape flapping and swaying as he runs.

4- I LOVE the way Ethan runs. I seriously need to get video footage of it before it is too late- he does this funny little thing with his hands and his hips and he runs sideways. SO cute!

5- I love watching him color on the kitchen floor- he lays on his belly and crosses his feet behind him in the cutest way. And I love watching him hold his crayon- let's just say he has much better crayon holding form than a certain older boy that we know well;)

6- I love Ethan's facial expressions- you can see a sampling of them above:) He is very expressive- he is like a cartoon character! The angry bad guy face is the best- I love the way he wrinkles his nose and lifts hiw eyebrows:)

7- I love how friendly he is. Wherever we go, his is always saying "Hi!" and waving to strangers- he makes lots of friends! And it is fun to see how people just melt over his sweet little smile and voice- I can't help but feel proud:)

8- Most of all, I love his sweet hugs and kisses. Ethan is super cuddly, which is a parents dream, right? Who could ever tire of hugs and kisses? Not I! Nor Tim! Tim says that is definitely a trait he got from his dad, which I must say is probably true.

Well, that is all for now- I need to put my kids to bed. They are driving me crazy- the little dears...

Until next time!

The J Man

Today I got around to editing the photos I took of Jace a few days ago and it was a good day to do it. Jace had a bit of a rough day today- so did I. This afternoon after I told him to stop throwing the ball in the house he kicked me in the shin and said "I'm gonna dang you!" I am not sure what that means but it sure didn't sound nice! He had a nice long time out in his room and chat with his Dad afterwards. No more dangin' mom (and Mom needs to stop using that word!) So, it is nice for me to look at his cute smile and remember that moments like we had today are just moments- most of the time Jace is a sweet and hilarious 5 year old boy! Here are some of the things I love about my little J dude:


1- I love when he kisses me goodnight. And tells me "Don't let the spider-chicken-elephant-teranadon-monster-snake-walrus bugs bite." It is a different list of random animals every night. And I am always surprised at what makes the list!

2- I love when he plays theme songs on the piano. Or tries to figure out the tune to Primary songs or Christmas songs and then after a few tries I hear him say "Awww, forget it!" Although I encourage him to keep trying, it makes me laugh every time. He is quite the pianist!

3- I love when he talks about his "wildest dreams coming true," a phrase he has picked up lately. Only his wildest dreams right now usually consist of getting to wear his spiderman shirt or having a PB&H sandwich for the second day in a row. Way to dream big, buddy!

4- I love watching him read- it is so amazing to me! Especially when we read scriptures and he picks up words like "salvation" or "prosperous." And I love the proud smile on his face after we tell him good job.

5- I love making up stories with Jace. For example- one of our favorites is about 7 superhero friends, named Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Ironman, Buzz Lightyear, Luke Skywalker and Mr. Incredible(this list grows longer every month). These friends journey to a planet called Arkintack (Jace made up that name) and go hiking in the woods where they run into an old abandoned magical hideout filled with all kinds of special weapons and spy equipment to use on all their bad guys (I won't go into the lengthy bad guy list). So they fly the weapons back to the Metropolis City Museum (or Gotham City Bank) and get 'em! Then the police come pick up the bad guys, throw them in jail and the super seven fly back to Arkintack and have a hot pizza in the magical house. All in a days work! Today the super seven found a time machine and went back to the time of dinosaurs where they met a Triceratops that had FOUR horns (imagine that!) and Spiderman was so scared that he stayed inside the time machine and hung out on the ceiling. Because he can do that. But most of all I love the smile pasted to Jace's face for the entire story:)

6- I love when Jace draws sweet things for me. Last week he led me outside to show me this:



7- I love watching Jace watch NBA/NCAA highlights with his dad in the morning. I love seeing how much he looks up to Tim- and how he roots for the Utah Jazz. Oh, and i especially love when he tries to sing our Alma mater fight song (UTAH STATE HEY AGGIES ALL THE WAY... GO WAGGIES GO WAGGIES HEY HEY HEY!!!)

8- I love watching his tricks, which lately consist of break dancing(to this song:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFX2pk-FtEU), doing handstands, and, one he just picked up today, juggling plastic grocery bags (after saying "Ladies and Gentlemen! Presenting Jace Juggling!" and then breaking into this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8vINCq_IAI). Funny kid!

So yeah, we have our moments, but gosh I love this boy! And I feel so blessed to be his mom! And just check out his handsome eyes- just like his dad's:)

I will post Ethan's set tomorrow- Until then!

High School Flashbacks

Since we have started our work out program, I have been listening to Yahoo Music on M, W, & F mornings because Tim takes the ipod to the gym while I stay at home to do my weight routine. I don't know if any of you are familiar with Yahoo Music, but its basically free online radio stations you can play by genre. So this morning I was a little tired of listening to my regular Adult Alternative and Indie and Pop stations, so I decided on 90's Alternative just to shake things up. The instant the first song started playing- BAM! Song after song, it was like a total time warp! I seriously was having major flashbacks to my freshman year of High School, when I was first introduced to the wonderful world of Alternative Rock music. I could even remember people and places and smells from when I heard these songs- it was 1995 all over again! I got all excited about the good old days of Green Day, Beastie Boys, Weezer, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Cake. It was awesome! Until I realized how old these songs are, then I felt every bit like the almost-thirty-year-old-woman-trying-desperately-to-hold-onto-her-youth that I am. It was a weird mixture of pleasure and pain. And then this memory of my dad listening to The Who and Poco and Starship (speaking of Starship- We Built This City was our early family theme song- we loved it!) and talking about the good old days of music while I thought "Geez, my dad is old!" popped into my head. Then I realized, oh my gosh- I am my dad! It is only a matter of a few years before my kids will be saying the same things about me and my 'lame' music. It was funny, when Tim got home from the gym, he could totally tell how much I was enjoying my blast from the past as I was saying "didn't you love this song? Maybe we should download it!" He just smiled and looked me in the eye and said "Mandy, this music is really old. Do you really want to download 'Spoonman?'" It was then that it all fully sunk in- I am getting old. How did that happen? Man, life is flying by way too fast! And I don't want to get old. So I am going to go listen to some Beyonce ("AAAALL the single ladies... All the single ladies!") and pretend that I am young and hip... just as soon as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is over... no wait, "Machinehead" is on now- sweet! BUSH!

By the way, thanks for all the great music advice! I have found some great new music so far- I am loving Missy Higgins (thanks Aly!) as well as some of the other suggestions! Also, I took some cute photos of the boys today- it has been too long since I had photos of the boys on the blog- and we were in a rush so they are shirtless- Tim will be thrilled:o I will try to post them tomorrow along with the snow photos from last week. Have a great weekend folks!

(Ooooh, "Under the Bridge" is on now- Go Chilli Peppers! Okay, I need to stop- I have to go get ready for my run- 6.2 miles tonight! Wish me luck!)

Let's talk music..

My IPod has gotten a lot of use since I got it last summer. I listen to it in the car, while working/surfing at my computer, when I run, clean and cook- so basically I listen to it any time I am not sleeping. I focus better when I have music to listen to. But I am getting a little tired of my music and I need some suggestions for some new stuff. Can you all help me out? I am pretty desperate- I even downloaded some weird Indie music from a guy called Mika a few weeks ago- but I am now regretting it. I do like some Indie, but Mika was just a bit too weird for me. I like all kinds of music(except Heavy Metal/But Rock)- here is a list of some of the music on my IPod right now:

LOVES: Better Than Ezra, Lifehouse, Mat Kearney, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Keane, Indigo Girls, Cold Play, Collective Soul, Tori Amos
LIKES: U2, The Fray, One Republic, Snow Patrol, Faith Hill, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Daughtry, Rascal Flats, Death Cab for Cutie, Adele, Cranberries, James Blunt, Jason Mraz, Rob Thomas, Feist, Leona Lewis
LIKE(but can't listen to too often): The Shins, Pearl Jam, Dixie Chicks, Nora Jones, Sara McLaclan, Colbie Caillat, Dave Mathews (with the exception of Ants Marching- I love that song)

I know there is new music that I have not yet discovered and there is also old music that I like that I have just forgotten about. For example, a good friend of mine reminded me of Alanis Morisette a few weeks ago- I can't believe I forgot about her! I used to love her, in fact that was the first concert I ever went to (no wait, that was REM- ahhh, good times! Maybe I should download Everybody Hurts or Shiny Happy People for old times sake?) Anyways, I am open to any and all suggestions!

And now I have one song to suggest to you all:
Mat Kearney's new single
I LOVE this song- I have listened to it so many times over the last few days! I actually didn't love Mat Kearney when Tim first introduced me to him, but he has grown on me and is now one of my faves. The same is true with BTE and Collective Soul- two of Tim's favorites that I now love! If only I could get Tim to make it through a Tori Amos song maybe he would grow to love her too...

My appologies if this double posts from YouTube- they always seem to have issues when I try to post from there.

Happy listening everyone! Photos to follow soon...

1 Down, 83 To Go

So I read the Body for Life book and decided to do the program with Tim. And today was our first day. So how did it go, you ask?

I am hungry. And my armpits(or pecks... whatever those muscles are) are sore. And I can't get the sweet vanilla taste of protein shake out of my mouth. But otherwise, it went really well! And really, you eat quite a bit with this program (6Xs a day) so I am certainly not starving. But they are small meals. And I am used to having bigger meals and feeling full so the absence of that feeling is an adjustment for me. But I am sure I will get used to it. And the great thing with this program is you get 1 free day per week where you can eat whatever you want! Woohoo!

We took our before photos Saturday and it was really depressing. Honestly, I don't care who you are- no woman wants to see a photo of themselves in a two piece in bad lighting and no use of the liquify tool in photoshop. I guarantee even Heidi Klum gets some liquification on her photos. I am not complaining about being fat by any means, but I am not very fit. And I really want to be fit. So hopefully this will help me get over my sheman fear and have a nice toned body for the summer. At least for a few months- then I will probably be pregnant again and have to start all over (this time with added stretch marks for my before photo- great.) Kinda sounds like my theme song should be Carly Simon's "You're So Vain", but I really just want to feel healthy and fit. And be able to beat Tim in an arm wrestle. And maybe compete on American Gladiators with a name like "Aurora Thunder". That is all I want...


Updates to come- we got 8 inches of snow last night and I have a bigger and better snowman to post...

Lame-o Me

I cannot believe it has been 3 months since I posted on this blog. I won't even attempt to make any excuses, because the only excuses I can give would reveal to you all the lazy, time-wasting, procrastinating side of me. And that would totally ruin the perfection facade I try to put on.

So one of my New Years Resolutions is to reread the Harry Potter series since I have never read it in order from start to finish (I started with book 4 after the third movie came out, then I got hooked and went back and read the first 3 out of order). *Side note- I hope you have all read this series. If you have not you absolutely MUST! They really are magical- they make you feel like a little kid again and like there is such a thing as magic. And Hogwarts is the coolest place in the world!* So I am reading the third book right now and I was thinking about Hermione's time changer thing and how cool it would be if that was real. If you could turn back periods of time and do them over, think of all the things you could get done! I would repeat my kids nap time several times a day. That way I could take a nap myself AND read AND edit photos AND work on my new website AND post the bathroom reno. photos that I promised months ago AND surf the net AND take another nap (because all that work would make me tired again). Don't you think that would be so cool? What would you do if you could turn back time? (Nerdy question, but seriously I would like to know!)

Some other Carroll Family updates(with a plethora of hyperlinks):

-Jace will be registering for Kindergarten next week. CRAZY!

-Ethan moved into a big boy bed and is doing great! I finally painted the boys rooms, got them these matching quilts for their bunk beds and put some cool new hardware on their dresser. It is so nice not having a crib in there anymore- it has totally opened up the room and with a few storage bins in there it is so much easier to keep their room clean! I only wish I would've done it sooner.

-Tim just read this book and is trying to convince me to go on this program with him but I am afraid of looking like this:

Don't get me wrong, I would love to get in great shape but I don't want to look like sheman. Though I know realistically 12 weeks of diet and exercise couldn't make me look like that. Any body building women reading this blog, I am sorry if I offended you. Anyways, I promised him I would at least read the book.

-I am running a 10K at the end of March. I am determined to run it in UNDER an 8.5 min/mile pace. That is very fast for me, since my natural running pace is quite sluggish. But last Friday I ran 5 miles at an 8.7 pace so I think I can do it. Also, I got these jeans from Overstock last week and LOVE them- super cute, very good fitting with the perfect amount of stretch. If you have long legs, I highly recommend them.

-Last week we booked this beach house: http://www.midgettrealty.com/book/house.html?PMSID=WF312 (you'll have to copy and paste- the link isn't working)
My family is going to fly out here this August and vacation in the outerbanks with us. HOORAY!! LOVE the Outer Banks- and cannot wait to go there with my family!

-And last, but not least, we got our first (and probably last) snow storm last week. HOORAY! We could finally build a snowman! Now you Rocky Mountainers may be laughing at our pathetic excuse for a snowman, but it is hard to build a snowman from 1.5 inches of snow! This took pretty much all the snow from our front yard and I constantly had to pick leaves and sticks out of the ball as we rolled it. And we had to build it at 7:30 in the morning since the snow out here usually melts by noon, which it did. But Frosty JR. here lasted a whopping 2 days before his eyeballs fell out and his head fell off. And the squirrels treated themselves to a delicious dried carrot a few days later.

To anyone still reading this blog, hope you are doing well! And Mel, I know I promised bathroom photos so those are coming up! Tootles, y'all!